Raising symbol of freedom

Published: Monday, July 29, 2013 at 07:42 PM.

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“I want to express my all and congratulations to all the posts and Post 536 for such hard work in bringing this cemetery from a conversation and a dream to a reality.”

John Lindsey thanked Post 536, and especially member Robert Britt, for its efforts in making the cemetery a reality.

Greene County Commissioner James Shackleford said he recalls when the idea of a veterans’ cemetery was first mentioned and expressed future support from the county.

“I am happy to see how a few men could come together with an idea and make things happen,” he said. “What they are doing here today, it will mean a lot to this community and it will mean a lot to generations to come.”

Greene Commissioner Bennie Heath also spoke about how the community came together.

“Too many times in our lives people don’t work together,” he said. “But this is clearly an example of a vision of a dream.”

Greene Commissioner Denny Garner added, “I don’t know of any more appropriate reason for us to gather here today than to honor our country, America, and to see Old Glory raised and waving in the wind.”

SNOW HILL — “Imagine this,” Rep. George Graham said is a statement often repeated by Pride of Kinston Director Adrian King, “being on the battlefield, having been trapped into a zone and there’s no way of escape. And you look up and you hear a hovering above you, a helicopter, and you see the American flag. What hope.

“Imagine this. Imagine being taken to a field hospital by medics and you’ve lost a limb or you cannot see. And as you arrive to the tent, you see the American flag.”

There are a number of situations that can be imagined of which the flag stands for, he said.

“It is our symbol of freedom, of hope, of life everlasting,” he said. “It is our flag, and we will honor it til the day we die.”

Those words were spoken at a flag dedication ceremony held at the Greene County Veterans Cemetery on Monday.

Woodmen of the Worlds’ Kinston and Walstonburg lodges donated a flagpole and American flag, which was raised during the morning ceremony with about 60 people in attendance.

WOW National Director Danny Rice, president of Kinston Lodge 46 and whose uncle was a World War II veteran and prisoner of war for 18 months, said he felt like he had been “patriotically raptured” through the experience of the dedication ceremony.

“It’s an honor to be here,” he said, “to present another flag to always fly on the flagpole.”

High on the Woodmen’s priority list is to present flags and flagpoles to nonprofits. Rice said the Woodmen have donated more than 2 million flags and tens of thousands of flagpoles.

District Cmdr. James Martin said members of the Snow Hill American Legion Post 536 brought the idea of a veterans’ cemetery to his attention. American Legion Post 94 in Snow Hill and Post 332 in Walstonburg coordinated to bring the effort to fruition. To date, one burial has taken place there.

“We all fought for that flag,” he said, “and we deserve a place of honor when we leave this world, and this is the first of many steps that I’d like to see.”

N.C. Sen. Don Davis, D-Greene, said the meaning of the American flag is what citizens hold in common. He described the sound of “Taps” as “touching.”

“ ‘Taps’, my friends, is a tribute to all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and they gave their lives for our great country,” said Davis, a U.S. Air Force veteran. “… Let us remember those who are no longer to join us today, but yet I believe they join us in the spirit — the spirit of service.”

Snow Hill Town Administrator Dana Hill spoke on behalf of the town, its board and mayor.

“I want to express my all and congratulations to all the posts and Post 536 for such hard work in bringing this cemetery from a conversation and a dream to a reality.”

John Lindsey thanked Post 536, and especially member Robert Britt, for its efforts in making the cemetery a reality.

Greene County Commissioner James Shackleford said he recalls when the idea of a veterans’ cemetery was first mentioned and expressed future support from the county.

“I am happy to see how a few men could come together with an idea and make things happen,” he said. “What they are doing here today, it will mean a lot to this community and it will mean a lot to generations to come.”

Greene Commissioner Bennie Heath also spoke about how the community came together.

“Too many times in our lives people don’t work together,” he said. “But this is clearly an example of a vision of a dream.”

Greene Commissioner Denny Garner added, “I don’t know of any more appropriate reason for us to gather here today than to honor our country, America, and to see Old Glory raised and waving in the wind.”

Pierre Thompasionas of Snow Hill is a service officer for the Walstonburg post. He said he supports the ceremony he described as “heartwarming.”

Edrena Dixon of Snow Hill attended to support the veterans, including her late husband, Arthur Dixon.

“It’s important because I think of the veterans,” she said, “and my husband was a veteran. He was in World War II.”

Rice said he is pleased with how the Greene County community has come together.

“The city agreed to install the flagpole,” he said about Snow Hill. “And as you see today, that flagpole will always fly the flag and be a beacon of hope and a beacon of honor and remembrance for our very special veterans.”

Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.